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# The Nature of the Mystical Powers

#### by David Chart

The copyright of this article remains with the original author. Articles may be copied or distributed freely for personal non-profit use, provided that the author is properly credited.

A monograph by Menacra, follower of Bonisagus

All magi recognise a basic division of the mystical powers around us into sub-lunar and supra-lunar. This division is one in which I concur, and one of the greatest importance. However, there is a widespread belief that, apart from this split, all the powers are independent. Thus Faerie power has nothing to do with magical power, and the power of demons is, again, something completely different.

This view, I believe, misses a fundamental unity in the sub-lunar powers.

As powers of his world, they are all derived from some mood of reality. The mundane aura is the expression of the world as it is. This, unsurprisingly, is the normal state, and so the quiet magic of this power has gone unrecognised by most magi, with the notable exception of he followers of Jerbiton. The beauty of a song or painting, or the sound of a stream, or the dawn chorus, all express the magic of the so-called mundane: the magic of things as they are.

I believe that the most powerful expression of this force is that known as True Love, and that True Friendship is a similar thing. Many people attribute these to the supra-lunar powers, but this seems unreasonable to me for two reasons, one of which I shall discuss when the subject of those powers comes up. The other reason, however, should be dealt with here. There is love that is not True Love, and friendship that is not True Friendship, and these have their own magic clearly derived from the mundane world. Since True Love is love writ large, it seems foolish to suppose that there is a radical change in the source of the power. If magic is unable to affect True Love, that is for the same reason that most magi cannot kill a dragon: it is powerful. It is not, I believe, qualitatively other.

The second power to consider is that of magic, the power upon which magi draw, this is the power of the world as it should be. One of the clearest indications of this is the perfection of those things created by magic: a magically made horse is everything a horse should be. Similarly, the brighter colours and more vivid sounds of a magical aura are the signs of how those things should be in all places, but are not.

From this we can see how magic is inherently more spectacular than the mundane world: the way that things should be is more to be wondered at than the way that they simply are. However, a misinterpretation should be avoided. When I refer to the way that things should be, I do not imply any ethical judgement. Surely there are powerful magi, such as Dav'nalleous, who are not as they should be, if judged on an ethical standard. No, the 'should' referred to is the imperative of Essential Nature: magic is the power of all things expressing themselves to the fullest. Thus magic cannot change Essential Nature, for to do so would be to undermine its own basis.

The third power most magi encounter is that of the fay, and this is the power of things as they could be: the power of dreams and wishes. Thus the fay cannot be held to truth, for there is no truth o the matter as to how things could be. Thus they play elaborate games, following the rules for the sake of it: things could be thus, and so the fay play it out. Enchantments are easy for them, for possibilities enchant every mind, and illusions and changes come naturally, for what can be more natural than an unrealised possibility, or a changing opinion.

It might seem from this that the mutation of Essential Nature should be within the power of the fay, for surely it could be different? I believe that this is not the case, that the bounds of possibility, the limits of the way that things could be, are set by their Essential Nature. Thus the fay also face this limit.

Most magi would say that the power of demons was the final power: the power of things as they are not. This connection to negation and deceit is as the core of the infernal, and is the source from which their schemes and malice flow. To deal with such things is surely perilous, for demons can, ultimately, affect the Essential Nature of the Soul. It is in its nature to be free, and they can bind it. It is in its nature to be happy, and they can subject it to pain. Falsehood is a foolish thing to deal with.

The impossibility of detecting demons or of binding them to the truth follows from the source of their power. Beings that are essentially lies cannot be made to be honest, nor can existences whose essence is not to be there be detected. However, their links with the fallen angels and the cosmology of the Church is less clear. I do not believe that demons are truly fallen angels, and more than the fay are, but that the beliefs of Christians and the power of their God have shaped them into this role, which is one for which they are well suited.

While this exhausts the tally of sub-lunar powers which are generally recognised, two more suggest themselves: the power of things as they were, and the power of things as they will be. It is my belief that the religions of pagan Greece and Rome, and thus the ultimate origins of our Order, drew their power from things as they were. The hankering after a Golden Age, the portrayal of gods as creatures who once roamed the earth, all these point to such a source. It is interesting to think that a few traces of this power might remain in Europe, but perhaps a determined search would find some.

The final power, that of things as they will be, is a complete mystery to me, I do not know whether it has been tapped, or what form it would take if it were. But, given the degeneration of the world, it would likely leach all the magic out of a place, rendering it dull and grey, lifeless under an uncaring sky.

While the sub-lunar powers are bound together by their basis in this world, the supra-lunar powers are indeed distinct from one another, and, I believe, plural. Each supra-lunar power is based on a God, the nature of which is beyond me. Since their is no God corresponding to True Love, I have a further reason for holding that power sub-lunar.

The Gods that I am aware of are Yahweh of the Jews, Christ of the Christians, Allah of the Moslems, Ahura-Mazda and Ahriman of the Parsis, and possibly others, almost all of these are regarded as good by their followers (Ahriman being the interesting exception), but as evil by those opposed to them.

These deities seem to have come into existence at times: Yahweh with Abraham, Christ in Roman Palestine, Allah at the time of Mohammed. They did not act before those times, so that it seems likely that they did not exist. This suggests that the limit of the lunar sphere may not be absolute: that there may be come way to ascend to Godhood. If there is, we magi have only one clue: Twilight is a supra-lunar power. It cannot be affected by magic, and it takes its victims beyond the reach of any sub-lunar power. Perhaps the Criamon are right, and Twilight is, truly, a great dawn.